By Andrew Warshaw
November 17 – Already fuming at being forced to play last week’s World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia on neutral ground, Palestinian officials are up in arms at being ignored over another fixture they have protested to FIFA about.
Insideworldfootball has seen copies of letters sent by the Palestinian Football Association to both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation complaining that East Timor fielded no fewer than seven ineligible Brazilian-born players when the sides drew 1-1 on October 8.
Last year Equatorial Guinea were expelled from the African Nations Cup qualifiers for fielding a Cameroon-born player in a tie against Mauritania. The country was re-instated only because they agreed to host the event after Morocco withdrew because of the ebola health crisis.
The Palestinians say they have not been told why no action has been taken against East Timor.
In their letter the PFA urged that the match in question “is investigated and resolved”.
“As far as the information we have (is concerned), none of the players listed by East Timor in the last game against Palestine comply with the requirements,” the letter adds.
It is understood that the AFC have replied saying any investigation should be carried out by the FIFA disciplinary committee but Palestinian officials claim all parties are deliberately washing their hands of what appears, on paper, to be a flagrant breach of eligibility rules.
Meanwhile the rescheduled Saudi game last week in Amman, Jordan, ended goalless, a moral victory for the Palestinians as the Saudis dropped points for the first time in World Cup 2018 qualifying. They remained way out in front at the top of their group while third-placed Palestine kept its hopes alive by moving to within one point of the United Arab Emirates who have nevertheless played one game fewer.
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